The Circle of Bones

As we approached closer to the circle of bones, we are attacked by two governing animata, who summoned a number of other animata to fight us. The minions quickly swarmed us and we found ourselves battling enemies before us and behind us.

The fight was a test of our endurance. Our blows kept passing through the animata, wasting our strength and energies. Kale, our Human Mage, was able to cast a cloud of toxin that he made lethal to the animata. (Normally, these creatures of magic could not be affected by natural poisons, but Kale changed the poison into a necrotic cloud that could kill these monsters.)

Each time we slew a minion, one of the governing animata summoned it back. Bran, our Halfling Rogue, found himself surrounded at one point and battered by these creatures until he was near death. Tiny, our Dwarven Cleric, was able to save him, and Bran came back to strike down one of the governing animata with a fatal sneak attack. Firinne, our Half-Elven Paladin, battled the other govering animata and its minions. Under the tactical presence of our Half-Elven Warlord Garg, we were able to defeat the second governing animata. Once both of these creatures were gone, we quickly dispatched the rest of their minions.

We took a closer look at the pile of bones, and Kale noted that the bones were in a summoning circle of sorts. The bones that had been collected there were from creatures of varying races and origins. Some bones were much older than others (the newest of which had been there for a few weeks).

We explored the room further and only found a bookery containing several destroyed books. We did discover a ritual for summoning a servitor animata. Perhaps this could be useful in the future. We also found a suit of magical Elven battle armor, which Tiny agreed to size for Bran.

It seemed at this point, that we had made our way through the entire building, although there was one mysterious section of the map that we could not explore. No door or passageway provided entrance to that area. Perhaps Tiny could examine the hallway more carefully and find a way in.